I'll Be There
by Rory-Chan26
Summary: Marinette wants to be there for Adrien, but he knows he can't truly tell her everything. When Ladybug refuses to listen so as not to risk their identities, who does Chat Noir run to? Someone who's heart is big enough to open for anyone, even a silly cat. "I know you're strong enough to do this alone, Adrien, but that doesn't mean you have to."
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Thanks for dropping by my story! Just a heads up, I know this is my first chapter but I do plan on doing multiple chapters at once and then posting in sequence, so Don't get disappointed if there's a gap in updates! I have the WHOLE THING planned out pretty much, so don't worry about not finishing!**

 **This story was inspired by the song I'll Be There by Jess Glynne. It will be many chapters. I appreciate reviews and betas! Good and Bad! The rating might change further down the road, for possible violence and other themes. But we shall see. I hope you enjoy this chapter and wait patiently for more! (I'll probably do 3 more and then post once a week to continue. ;)**

 **I do not own Miraculous Ladybug or the characters. My profile image is credited to Alempe at DeviantArt.**

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As he entered the noisy classroom that Monday morning, Adrien could already feel his bad mood rising back to the surface. One hand on the strap of his bag, he ran his fingers through his blonde locks, attempting to remove the face he knew he was wearing. He took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold into Ms. Bustier's classroom.

"Sup dude!" a voice who could only be Nino spoke. He was sitting sideways in his booth, one arm on the back of his chair as Alya sat behind him, waving hello to their mutual friend as he took his seat. Adrien greeted Nino with their signature manly high five-fist bump combo, while none-too-gently dropping his back to the floor beside the desk and taking his seat. He could almost hear the faint noise of indignation as Plagg was lobbed around inside the bag.

"Morning Nino – Alya." As much as he tried to make himself sound his "usual" chipper self, he could tell he had failed. There was a flatness in his voice that he usually reserved for his father's company, and his smile never reached his eyes. Alya took that as her cue to focus heavily on her phone, likely scrolling through her Ladyblog for new comments, while Nino started questioning; as he was apt to do.

"Hey, bro what's wrong? You havin' a bad day?" he looked to his best friend. Adrien hated that look. Nino always knew what was going on – not that it was hard to guess. Nino knew something happened with his father, the famous Gabriel Agreste, who had no time for his son unless he was making money, but he danced around the subject to spare Adrien's feelings. He knew Nino was just being courteous, but it still managed to make him sick to think people were feeling sorry for him.

"Nah, nothing more than the usual, I guess." He sighed. He knew his best friend would understand that that meant he didn't really want to talk about it. When things happened with his father, he had grown so used to it that he could put on a good act and make everyone believe he was just happy, friendly Adrien. But something about today just really got under his skin.

It could have something to do with the fact that he had a late patrol last night. He got home past one in the morning. Then to be lectured by his father about curfews and threatening to take him out of school as always. But _no regrets!_ He was patrolling with his Lady! He could deal with some grogginess to spend more time with Ladybug any day. As if on cue, he yawned widely, attempting to cover his face with the back of his hand.

"Alright, well you better be okay, if not I'll go kick someone's ass! Just try me when it comes to my best bro!" Nino was nearly standing up, brandishing fists in front of his face as if he were intimidating with that calm, happy face of his. Adrien was about to retort that it would not be necessary, when Alya tapped on his shoulder, breaking his eye contact with Nino as they both turned to look at her. Perhaps she had noticed that the classmates that were there had started to whisper about his sour mood.

"So, who wants to bet on the arrival of our resident Tardy Queen?" she smirked, hazel eyes ablaze behind her rimed glasses.

"Hey, you know it's not fair when you can just text her and she'll tell you where she is, Alya." Nino complained. Nevertheless, he grinned back and added, "but I'll bet she gets here right as the bell rings, as usual."

"You know there's a good chance she won't text me back until lunch time, right? That girl is so scatterbrained, I swear." Alya shot back, not without a loving tone and cheeky smile.

He didn't really feel like joking around, but he threw in, "Maybe she'll get here before the teacher for once?" He shrugged his shoulders. Alya knew he wasn't putting effort into his guess.

She straightened her shoulders and huffed. "Well I'll bet, she's going to be much later than that. Probably after Ms. Bustier has already started her lesson." She said, crossing her arms confidently in front of her chest.

"Alright miss predicto-matic, what are the stakes of this bet?" Nino questioned.

"One action. Whatever the winner wants. From EACH of the losers since there are three of us." She threatened. Nino recoiled, sweat-dropping.

Regaining his confidence, he said, "Fine, you're on. There's no way Marinette is going to be that late. What made you guess that anyway?"

"I just have a feeling, and I know my bestie." She sat back in her chair smugly. At this point, Adrien had already lost interest in the conversation and was laying with his head on his desktop, scrolling through his tablet for today's lesson plan, hoping to get it over with quickly. He didn't even think to deny Alya's threatening bet.

The clock ticked on and people flooded into class. Eventually the murmuring died down as Ms. Bustier entered the class. Nino knew by now he had lost the bet, as the seat next to the Ladyblogger was still vacant. He looked to Adrien for solace, but he looked to be preoccupied on his tablet and unaware of what he had just lost.

"Bonjour class. I hope everyone had a lovely weekend." Ms. Bustier smiled at the faces of her class. "Let's start our day as usual by saying something nice to each other." She looked around for someone to go first. Before she could pick someone, the door burst open and a tornado of pink and navy blue came crashing in.

Distracted, Adrien looked up to see Marinette, recently dubbed the appropriate Tardy Queen. She was panting, with her tablet under her arm and her bag flung around her neck, hanging over her back rather than on her shoulder where it should be. Her face was flushed, and she looked close to tears. She bowed deeply to Ms. Bustier, her bag swinging dangerously close to the floor in front of her and nearly making her fall over. Adrien had to suppress a snicker. Even if she didn't mean to, Marinette always had a way of bringing some relief to a situation – comedic or otherwise. It just wasn't school without her.

Nino didn't miss the smile – the real one – the first one to reach his best friend all morning. _Noted._ He turned back to look at Marinette and followed suit with a grin of his own.

"I'm so sorry I'm late Madame! I was- I was-…"

"Never mind the reason Marinette. It's never anything a normal person would truly be late from." Ms. Bustier joked sarcastically. "Why don't you stand up and start our words of kindness for today? Make someone smile to make up for your tardiness."

Marinette blushed hard, turning to face the class with a look of determination. She swept her blue eyes over her classmates, looking for someone to compliment. She almost always picked one of the girls. He was never sure if it was a feminist-women-empowerment thing or if she was just too shy to call out a boy in class. Her gaze lingered on Alya. _Called it._ What he didn't know, since his back was turned, was that Alya was gesturing at himself.

Then she was looking right at him. Or rather, through him. If she wanted to, Marinette could look someone in the eyes and dig straight to the soul. He felt exposed, like she was reading his open book, written in children's rhetoric and lots of pictures. She made a face like she knew everything, and he flinched, waiting for the pity look and some assuming statement.

It never came.

She smiled brightly, her eyes twinkling. She clutched her tablet across her chest protectively and took a deep breath and masked herself with a playful smirk.

"H-hey Adrien. Why don't cats like online shopping?" he blanked. Was she telling him a joke? A cat joke? Had she just made a full sentence while speaking to him? Everyone was silent, waiting in anticipation, but Ms. Bustier picked up on what she was doing and smiled warmly. She did say to make someone smile, not that it had to be a compliment.

The whole class stared at him, waiting for his response. "…why?" he managed to get out. His gears were still spinning a little.

Marinette could barely contain her giggles as she tried to get her punch line out, "Be- he he- Because they prefer a CAT- a-logue!" She leaned forward, making a kitty paw fist and grinning cheerily.

For the briefest of moments, there was silence. He felt his face heating up.

There was no holding back the pure joy at the cat pun she had just unleashed. He blew a small raspberry from his lips trying to contain the smile that broke as he threw his head back and laughed. The whole class followed suit.

"Oh, wow Marinette!" "Never saw that one coming!" "Really, we've stooped to cat jokes!?" some people shouted. Rose was wiping a tear from her eye and even Chloe was tittering at her seat. Nathaniel was blushing madly, Adrien couldn't blame him – the cat pose might have been over the top, but it was just so cute and the perfect thing to trigger the laughing spree.

As Marinette walked to her desk, she gave him a wink. She knew something was wrong with him that morning and gave him the first thing she could think of to put him at ease and get him out of the spotlight. He smiled back, thinking to himself how very Chat-like that joke had been. He'd never seen a side of Marinette like that before. It was almost endearing, had he not known that Marinette hardly knew Chat Noir aside from a passing moment during an Akuma attack. It made him wish she could be like this all the time, without being so affronted by being in his presence that she can't form coherent sentences. He wished he could get to know the side of Marinette that everyone else did.

One thing he did know, was that she had succeeded in banishing his bad mood, even if for just a little bit. As she sat down, Alya high fived her. Nino looked back at the two of them suspiciously, still mad about losing the bet from earlier and wondering if they had planned the entire thing.

"Now, now, class settle down. That was quite a wonderful performance, Marinette. You are forgiven. For today." Ms. Bustier gleamed at Marinette. "Let's get started, shall we?"

The rest of the class went rather smoothly, aside from the moment when Nino sent him a text.

 **Dude, you know Alya won the bet, right? :'(**

 _Oh, damn. I forgot._

 **Hell, I forgot about it. What was the rule again?**

He paled when he got the text back explaining what he now owed the crazy woman sitting behind Nino. He would have to handle it, he supposed. Knowing her, she would hang onto it until they almost forgot about it and throw it back when it was convenient for her. He would not look forward to it.

When the bell rang, Adrien began to gather his things and head for the door to the next class. He was a little disappointed to be leaving half his friends – he only shared the next class with Alya – and his mood started to turn to where he had been this morning. As people started filtering out, he felt a hand tug on his shirt sleeve.

He turned to see Marinette, and an empty classroom. Had he lagged that long?

"Uhm, listen… Adrien. I – I wanted to let you know that. Well. If- if you, you know…" she grabbed her right arm with her left, scuffing her foot on the ground and started blushing again.

Cute.

 _What? No._

"Yes, Marinette?" He tried to be patient. He had to get off to his next class. Apparently, she didn't mind being late for every class.

"I just wanted to- to say that, if you ever need….totalkaboutanythingI'mhereforyou!" she managed to blurt out. This was the Marinette he was used to.

And he was right, she did know something was wrong this morning.

"Um," he rubbed the back of his neck, "yeah, thanks Marinette, but I think I'll be okay. I've been dealing with this stuff forever, so… I think I can handle it." She looked a little defeated. She knew about his relationship with his dad. The four of them had made a group for themselves, hanging out at school and sometimes outside school, doing activities or getting lunch or coffee together. They all had a connection to each other, but he still had his barriers.

She seemed to have a moment of bravery, "Ah, I know. You're right, Adrien. I know you're strong enough to do it all on your own. But that doesn't always mean you have to." She smiled sweetly, touching his arm briefly before heading off to her next class.

"See you later." And like that, she was gone. He stood there, gob smacked.

What did she mean? He didn't have to? Of course, he did. How could anyone else understand? How could he let anyone know how he really feels, how he wishes he could escape to be Chat Noir for the rest of his life, and leave the model life of Adrien Agreste behind? He can't tell anyone, ever. Not even Ladybug, his only friend who knew Chat Noir for real. His heart was warmed to think that Marinette cared enough to offer her shoulder to him, but he couldn't help but think that no matter how much someone cares for him, it'll never be more than shallow, and they'll only ever know the side of him he likes the least.

He knew how Ladybug felt about sharing personal information, but maybe if he asked, she would listen to him and try to understand. He could give it a try the next time he sees her. Marinette was right, he didn't want to do this alone anymore. Even though it couldn't be her, he needed someone.

He scrolled through the Ladyblog all throughout his next class, in an attempt to raise his spirits while thinking of his Lady and imagining hanging out with her in real life. It worked, and he spent the whole time scrolling and daydreaming wistfully about those blue eyes and blue-black hair, laughing breathlessly while flying across Paris with him, until the lunch bell rang.

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 **Wow it seems much shorter than I thought! Don't worry, I'll be putting up more. And no, this story will not be completely in Adrien's POV. I don't think I could handle that...! I just got so excited to get this first bit out there. If anyone has recommendations to improve my summary, please PM me! I'm terrible with summaries...**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the short one guys, I know how I want this to go, I just can't seem to get it out of my head sometimes! There are so many possibilities! I hope you enjoy it and look forward to the next one!**

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 **Marinette POV**

"You've done it again, M'Lady! Purrfectly executed!" Chat grinned at her. They had just beaten an Akuma that started up right after school. It had been taken down so easily that he didn't even need to use his Cataclysm. But Ladybug didn't mind using her Lucky Charm – it just didn't feel like an Akuma fight without it. Once she had reverted the rest of the city back to normal and fixed all the damages, she turned to him and gave him their signature fist-bump.

"Pound it!" They said in unison.

"You really laid it on thick with the puns today, Chat. You must be having a good day!" She giggled.

 _Or just a really bad one._ He thought.

They were standing on top of a tall building, leaning against the guard rails watching the city for a moment. Her earrings started to warn her that time was almost up.

She started to say, "Well, Chat, it's been fun…" when he interrupted her unknowingly.

"You know Ladybug, sometimes, I think you're my only true friend. The only one who knows the real me." He didn't look at her, just stared out at the city and the setting sun. Her beeper was going off in her ear. She looked over at him curiously at the drastic mood change she could feel coming from him.

"Chat… you can't mean that. You have friends other than just me." She sighed. _Here we go again._

"Not really. I mean, sure I do, but they don't know me as Chat Noir. This is who I want to be!" He looked at her seriously. "I just always want to be Chat Noir and for you to be Ladybug with me. I wish it could be like this forever." She could tell he was not joking. Red flags and warning signs went up in her head.

"You know that's not possible, Chat. We have responsibilities as our real selves. Our civilian selves. People who need us outside of Ladybug and Chat Noir."

"Maybe you do." He said, practically a whisper.

"Listen, Chat, I know it's real fun to do this and to help people the way we do, but you can't be so personal with me like this. Trust me, I wish that I could be there for you for… whatever it is that's going on with you. But we can't let any clues out to our true identity." She stood up straighter, standing her ground. She felt terrible saying these kinds of things to him, knowing he was probably hurting under the mask, but what could she do? As Ladybug, she had a responsibility to uphold. To keep the citizens of Paris safe. And that included herself as Marinette and all her friends, and whoever Chat was under his mask too. She couldn't let him slip out of his mask, and he couldn't know who she really is.

He looked hurt, but said, "I know, Bugaboo, it's just…. I don't have anyone else."

"Well, you need to find someone else. Find yourself a real friend who doesn't wear a mask, who can be there for you when you need it and who you can contact whenever you need someone. I can't be that person, Chat." She looked down at her feet, the sun was almost set, and her earring was at it's last spot.

"Aren't we real friends…?" he asked, sounding more like a hurt child than like the cheeky Chat she knew.

"Ladybug is Chat Noir's friend." She said, "but… you don't even know me." She turned away, not wanting to look at his face. "I've got to go, my time is up. See you next time Chat Noir." And with that, she leapt off the building and off into the twilight of Paris.

* * *

 **Adrien POV**

He couldn't believe what his ears had heard. He knew Ladybug was strict about their identity, but this had been his last hope. His last chance at having someone who would know him as the person he truly felt he was. He belonged with Ladybug – how could it be any other way? If he couldn't know her secret identity, who could? Who could understand the life they lead? Who could put up with the lies and the secrets he had to uphold? How could anyone want to be a friend to him, when he would have to hide a whole other side of his life from them?

He leaned his head forward on his forearms that leaned on the rail of the building. The sun was fully set and it was dark in the city apart from the lights from windows and street signs. He felt like he might cry, for lack of any other kind of response coming to mind.

 _What do I do?_

" _Just because you can do it by yourself, doesn't mean you have to."_

That's it!

He remembered the conversation he had with Marinette in class earlier that day. She had offered to be a good friend to Adrien, maybe she could do the same for him? He had always known Marinette to be the kind of person who would open her heart up to anyone in need, no matter if they were her best friend or her worst enemy. Maybe she would listen to a poor kitty and let him get this off his chest and be friends with Chat Noir, rather than Adrien. It was worth a try.

He felt his heart flutter in his chest. This idea could really work!

 _Please, please Marinette. Please be the person I know you are. I need you._

Last hope: take two!

He leapt from the building and off toward the best bakery in town. His nose would lead the way.

He found himself coming upon an unsuspecting girl in her pajamas, watering her plants on the balcony and blissfully unaware of his presence until he sat himself upon her balcony rail, perched like the Chat he is. Her back was turned to him as she hummed to herself, sounding a little sleepy but not unhappy.

"Hey, Puurrrincess." He said, his velvety voice shocking her into turning around, dropping her spray bottle to the ground and yelping unattractively.

"AAAH!" she turned, saw him, and sighed with relief. "Chat Noir? What are you doing here? You scared me half to death!" she held her chest as if her heart was truly about to burst. She picked up her spray bottle and aimed it at him. "You had better have a good reason for hopping up to a girl's bedroom this late in the evening, you scoundrel of a kitty cat!"

Her look of determination had him a little flustered. She must truly hate Adrien. If this is how she is all the time, and yet she can't even have a normal conversation with him as a classmate? He wondered what he had done to make her so uncomfortable but shook his head. That was a question for Adrien later, and right now he was a Chat on a mission.

"Sorry to frighten you, I just happened to be passing by and noticed you over here looking paw-sitively bored and thought I might come brighten your evening!" he smiled. She sweat-dropped.

And sprayed him in the face.

He nearly toppled backward off the balcony but caught himself quickly and wiped his face. That was unexpected. And rude.

"What? That wasn't a good enough reason?" he asked indignantly, removing the water from a few strands of hair with a quick shake of the head.

"The reason was fine; this – "she gestured with the spray bottle and he reflexively flinched. She giggled, "– was for the pun." He blushed as he watched her freckled nose crinkle up as her tittering jingled in the night air.

Maybe hanging out with Marinette wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. He was right, she really could make friends with anyone.

And for the second time today, Marinette Dupain-Cheng had made him laugh.


	3. Chapter 3

**Marinette POV**

 _How did I end up in this situation?_

Marinette inwardly frowned to herself, laying with her back flat on the floor of her balcony, staring at the stars. Beside her was Chat Noir, absorbed in thought, the moonlight reflecting off his shiny black leather-clad body. His arms lay gently across his stomach and he gazed blankly at the sky as if it were something he had seen one too many times. She turned to look at him.

"So, why tell me all this, Chat?" she asked. After the incident with the spray bottle earlier, Chat had gotten a serious look on his face and very sheepishly asked if she would be willing to let him use her shoulder. She had nearly fallen off the roof.

 _When I said find yourself a friend, Chat, I didn't mean ME! I specifically said NOT ME. Well, not Ladybug at least. I guess that's what I get for opening my big mouth._

She couldn't just turn him away. Not with that dejected look in his too-green eyes that wouldn't meet hers until he heard an answer. She couldn't bear to hurt him twice. At least this way, he would be less likely to learn her identity as Ladybug.

She had agreed to hear what he had to say, offering for him to take a seat on the floor beside her. He accepted the offer and before long they were both laying on their backs, talking like long lost friends.

He had started by telling her that he had a terrible day, and without thinking his feet carried him to the top of this bakery. He admitted that he hadn't known that this was the home of "a princess" while waggling his eyebrows at her. He nearly got swatted in the head for that, but he managed to dodge. He felt like if he talked to his real-world friends about it, it would become a burden to them to listen.

"Chat, if they're really your friends, they'll gladly listen and offer any advice they can to you." She tried to argue, but he shook his head.

"They can't really know everything I'm feeling though, because they don't know that I'm Chat Noir." He sighed.

"So, this has something to do with your superhero alter ego?"

"Sort of. My problem is I just can't stand myself in real life. It just feels so fake – so plastic. Sometimes I wonder if my relationship with my friends is real. I wonder if my life is real or if I just imagined it. And then I become Chat Noir… and that's when I know I'm truly alive." He looked so inspired and confident in that moment. She waited for him to continue.

"I just want to be Chat Noir all the time. It's who I really am. My real self is my secret identity and I was Chat all along." He frowned. "But I can't. My Father has… let's call it high expectations of me. I have to make somebody of myself to please him."

 _Reminds me of someone else I know._ She thought.

He went on, "When I'm Chat, I can leap and run and fly through Paris with My L- I mean with Ladybug. I can throw out my puns, which she hates as much as you do," he snickered, "and I get to spend my time with the most amazing girl I've ever met." At that statement, he got a lovestruck look on his face and she had to struggle not to blush in front of him. Marinette was thankful it was dark out.

"I just don't know what to do. I wish I could abandon my real life."

"Chat, have you ever thought about trying to strengthen your relationship with your friends in real life?"

He sat upright.

"I don't know how to do that!" he threw his hands in the air, frustrated. "I feel like I've hit a wall sometimes and I just can't get any further."

"Don't you think maybe you built that wall?"

He looked as if heart stopped. Chat turned to look at her, cat ears drooped.

"…I did?" his green eyes searched her blue depths for an explanation. She shrugged.

"From what it sounds like, you try so hard to push your relationship with Ladybug that it's all that you can think about. It's all you put effort into. If you toned that down a bit, and put more effort into your real-life friendships, maybe you could make progress and feel more like you have a reason to be your real self, without the mask."

 **Chat POV**

There it is, that soul-searching gaze of hers. She knew everything. She had to. How else could she have shot an arrow through his heart like that? Was he really creating a barrier between himself and Nino? Between himself as Adrien and Marinette? Even Alya? Could having true friends in real life really be as great as being Chat Noir? Probably not.

"But… I still don't know how to do that." He looked down at his hands.

"Well, think about all the things you try to do to impress Ladybug, to sway her to be your friend and not just your partner, and put those tools to use with your friends in real life – minus all the flirting of course." she giggled.

He wished he could tell her. He wasn't sure what had come over him in that moment, but he wanted so badly to reveal himself to her as Adrien, so she could see how ironic it was that she was telling him to 'woo' her friendship. But he reminded himself that was a bad idea and would totally defeat the purpose of trying to open up to her and his other classmates as Adrien.

"So… I need to distance myself from Chat Noir, and focus on being myself through my real-life self?"

She sweat-dropped. "When you put it that way, you're making my super great advice sound like gibberish."

He put his head in his hands, "Ah, I'm sorry, Princess. It's just such a simple concept; I don't know why I couldn't have thought of it myself."

Cool fingers touched his hands through the gloves, pulling his fingers away from his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw she had righted herself, now seated across from him and searching his soul again with those deep ocean eyes.

His breath hitched, just now taking in just how beautiful her face was. The moonlight lit up her pale skin in the darkness, her cheeks slightly pink and her long lashes gazing at him. She looked at him with so much warmth that he could feel it tingling from his belly all the way to the back of his neck, where his hair stood on end. He knew if there was enough light she would see his ears reddening. He shook from his stupor when she spoke, releasing a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Sometimes we all need someone, Chat. We are social beings and can't always figure everything out by ourselves." Marinette took a soft breath, not releasing his hands or breaking her eye contact with him. "We need shoulders to cry on, faces to smile at, necks to hug," she looked down at her hands that were now cradling his, gently rubbing her thumbs in circles on the smooth leather of his clawed hands, "hands to hold."

Her last words were almost a whisper, and he looked down at their hands. When was the last time he had closeness with someone like this? It was nice, comforting, and for once it didn't feel awkward at all. Where was this Marinette at school? Is this why everyone – minus Chloe – likes her so much? He was starting to understand.

Suddenly she turned red and released his hands. "I'm sorry." She looked away and wrung her hands together. The loss of their warmth was disappointing.

"No, don't be." His voice came out hoarser than he thought it would. He cleared his throat. "I really appreciate your advice, Princess." He reached out to touch her chin, directing her to look back at him.

She had the beginnings of tears in her eyes. Panic rose in him, what happened?

"What's wrong?" He asked, startled. She quickly wiped away the droplets before they could fall.

"I'm sorry, Chat. Here we are supposed to be talking about you, and I'm thinking about myself and others…" she laughed, an empty one. "I guess I just can't help it."

"Well, you know this friendship thing goes both ways, Princess. You can talk to me about anything." He stared into her eyes with determination. She kept her word and heard all his complaints, all his insecurities. He could listen to hers.

"Really?" she sniffed. Wow, she was really upset about something.

He nodded, and indicated for her to sit next to him, as she had done for him earlier. She sat down and let out a sigh.

"I guess our talk just had me thinking about a friend of mine. Well, not really a friend. I consider him a friend, but he hardly knows I exist, I'm sure."

 _I seriously doubt that, Marinette. Who wouldn't notice someone like you?_

"And who is this friend?" He could feel himself prickling at the thought of someone making Marinette feel so sad.

"Ah, his name is Adrien. He's in my class."

What?

He tried to keep a straight face, to not reveal the surprise he was feeling.

 _Me? What did I do?_

"What did Adrien do to you?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that!" she waved her hand around furiously. "I'm just really worried about him. I don't want to give too many details – it's not my story to tell – but he's just going through some stuff and I feel like he could really use a talk like you and I are doing right now."

 _You have no idea._

"But why are you crying about it?" He was still confused.

"I just… I care a lot about my friends. Kind of like how I told you earlier to put effort into friendship and give it your all, to have a reason to like yourself? That's how I choose to live." She blushed a little, "For some reason or another, I just can't seem to talk to Adrien and open up to him like I can with everyone else. He's so good at hiding it but I can tell he really needs someone to be there for him. I can't blame him for declining my offer to be that person, since he doesn't really know me at all."

 _Oh, Marinette, that's not why. I just couldn't let you know my identity. I had no idea this had affected you so much._

"You're a good friend, Marinette. I'm sure he'll come around eventually. Until then, just don't give up on him, okay?" he pleaded, little did she know he was asking for his own second chance.

Determination flashed across her face and she turned to look at him, confidently. She clenched her fist and wiped away her remaining tears.

"Yeah, you're right, Chat. I won't give up on him." She smiled. "It's funny, my best friend Alya always tells me the same thing!" She let out a little laugh.

"Thanks for making me feel better, Chat."

"Are you Kitten me? I should be thanking you Purrincess!" he grinned. She swatted at his hair again, and again he dodged.

"Silly Kitty." She scrunched her nose again like she had earlier. "Well, I don't know about you, but I have school tomorrow and I was already up late last night, and late for class today." She rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed. "I think we should call it a night."

He stood up. "You are absolutely right. I had a late one last night too, but patrols with Ladybug are worth it!" he saluted to no one in particular. Her eyes rolled.

"Okay, get off my balcony, silly cat." She made shooing motions at him. Quickly, before she could protest, he grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her into a hug. One hand grabbed her upper back and pulled her close while the other clung to her uncharacteristically loose hair. She was so surprised, her arms were between his, pressed against his chest and her head turned to look to her right side.

"Thank you, Marinette. I don't know what I would have done if I didn't find myself up here tonight."

She responded with a muffled, "Probably something stupid – I can't breathe." She squeaked. He let go rapidly.

"Hehe, sorry. I just wanted you to know that I'm grateful."

"Of course, Chat. Any time. Let's do this again, okay? You're always welcome here." She smiled and began backing toward her trapdoor.

"Thank you Purrincess." He leapt up to the balcony railing, poised to jump off into the night. "See you again soon." He saluted her and descended from the rooftop, extending his baton and catapulting himself into town.

"I look forward to it." She smiled warmly, a flutter in her chest, as she closed her trap door and entered her bedroom.

As Chat made his way home, he decided that Marinette was right – he could give Adrien a chance to be the fun side of his life. He could give his friends a chance.

 **So sorry for the long wait! I'll try to do better! Hope you liked this chapter, R &R! Love you guys. **


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